166: Chapter 166 "The Fox Borrows the Tiger's Power"

On the first floor, inside the reception room.

"Not in a hurry?"

Gu Changming asked, looking at Su Wan, who was sitting opposite him, slowly stirring her drink with a straw.

Su Wan looked up, gave him a gentle smile, and flicked the slowly rotating ice cubes in her glass with her fingertips.

"No hurry," she said in a relaxed tone, with a hint of mischief. "Let them wait a while longer."

Having finally found an opportunity to put on airs so "justifiably," she naturally wouldn't let this chance to "borrow the tiger's might" pass, making those hateful guys wait!

Gu Changming didn't press her and nodded.

It wasn't until the drink in her glass hit the bottom that Su Wan satisfiedly put down the cup, stood up, stretched her arms, and let out a pleasant yawn.

Seeing her like this, Gu Changming and Lin Jianqiu also stood up.

At the same time, Gu Changming mimicked her and stretched as well, speaking as he did so:

"Did you know?"

"Hmm?" Su Wan turned her head to look at him. "What?"

"There's a race," Gu Changming said, "whose way of greeting each other is by stretching."

"Eh? Really?" Lin Jianqiu, who had been daydreaming nearby, immediately leaned in upon hearing this.

"Really," Gu Changming confirmed with a nod.

The three of them then began walking toward the conference hall.

Gu Changming explained at the same time, "Remember the last Civilization Advancement Assessment? After passing, aren't we all teleported to an otherworldly realm?"

Su Wan and Lin Jianqiu nodded. Both had passed that Assessment; otherwise, they wouldn't be C-rank ability users now. So they naturally knew what Gu Changming meant about being teleported to an otherworldly realm for the final Assessment after passing the initial one.

"I encountered a race there. They were silver-white all over, with body lines that... well, had a very unique sense of beauty."

Gu Changming began introducing the Hill. "Their way of greeting each other is by stretching at one another."

Su Wan and Lin Jianqiu listened curiously. Their Assessments had been different from Gu Changming's, so they hadn't observed the characteristics and culture of other races in that otherworldly realm so closely.

"And..." Gu Changming remembered something else. "You can also judge their character by the number of characters in their names?"

"How do you judge?" Su Wan asked.

"The shorter the name, the better the character usually is. The one I met had a two-character name, and he... was indeed quite decent," Gu Changming said.

"Then by that logic, my character should be quite good?" Su Wan couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing this.

Hearing this, Lin Jianqiu found an opportunity for revenge and poked her in the side. "Are you saying the two of us have bad character then?"

Su Wan dodged her "attack," pulled away a bit, and glanced at the two of them, the curve of her lips deepening with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"It's hard to say."

...

The door was pushed open.

Su Wan and the other two appeared at the entrance.

The eyes of everyone in the hall first landed on Su Wan, who was in the lead, and then, as if by unspoken agreement, they looked behind her toward the figure with a crow perched on his shoulder at the back.

But the moment their gazes touched Gu Changming, they recoiled as if burned, refocusing on Su Wan or simply looking down at the table in front of them.

This guy had a terrible character; if they stared at him like that, he might find an excuse to start a fight in this setting, and they didn't want to be humiliated.

The three of them walked in.

Fang Shouzheng, who had been in this oppressive atmosphere for a long time, finally showed a hint of a smile.

He raised his hand and gestured toward the chairs.

"Sit."

This time, an extra chair, identical to the others, had been placed next to Su Wan's.

Everyone's eyes drifted up, covertly landing on Gu Changming.

Clearly, this new chair was prepared for Gu Changming.

However, Gu Changming's actions were exactly the same as last time.

He reached out, lightly placed his hand on Su Wan's shoulder, guided her forward half a step, and then firmly pressed her into her chair.

Then, he took half a step back himself and stood behind the back of Su Wan's chair with Lin Jianqiu, his posture identical to the previous meeting.

Seeing this, a flash of surprise crossed everyone else's faces.

Of course, none of them dared to speak up.

Only Su Wan and Fang Shouzheng turned to look at Gu Changming almost simultaneously, seemingly wanting to say something.

But before they could speak, Gu Changming spoke first.

"Sorry I'm late. The meeting can begin."

His voice fell.

After blinking, Fang Shouzheng naturally took over the conversation, his expression turning serious as he began the routine, slightly official opening remarks in his usual steady tone.

It was as if that subtle moment just now hadn't happened, drawing everyone's attention back to the main topic.

...

"Agreed."

"Passed!"

"Agreed."

"Passed!"

"Agreed..."

"Passed!!"

The meeting proceeded with unprecedented efficiency.

Proposals that had previously been debated endlessly and gone nowhere were now being brought up one by one by Fang Shouzheng.

The responses he received were a chorus of weak, uneven affirmations from around the round table.

In sharp contrast was the sound of Fang Shouzheng slapping the table to finalize each decision.

His face couldn't help but flush with a healthy glow, a smile almost overflowing from his eyes and brows, and every "Passed" was shouted with full vigor.

Skinny Monkey Man, Bai Xiao, Tan Hu... these usual troublemakers could only sigh helplessly now.

What else could they do?

Could there be a second choice? That guy had tangibly proven that he had the ability and the will to "invite" them out of the Xinhuo Stronghold one by one.

You can't fight fate—no, you can't fight a battering ram.

Another proposal regarding the tax ratio of points was passed.

Fang Shouzheng picked up the last piece of paper in front of him, but his movement of flipping it paused for a moment.

"The final proposal," he spoke slowly.

Hearing this tone, everyone pulled their attention back a bit, their gazes refocusing on Fang Shouzheng.

"The new council structure has been basically determined," Fang Shouzheng looked at everyone. "So, who will serve as the first Council Chief?"

Almost as soon as the words fell, everyone's eyes lifted in unison and landed squarely on the person who had been quietly standing behind Su Wan's chair.

Then, their gazes quickly glanced over the empty seat next to Su Wan.

Silence reigned for a moment.

Someone in the corner whispered two words.

"Su Wan..."

Since this guy refused to sit down, then naturally the Su Wan he was "supporting" had to be the Chief.

With the first person starting it, others quickly followed suit.

"Su Wan."

"Let it be Su Wan."

"Yes, Su Wan."

The voices of agreement rose one after another.

Fang Shouzheng was the same; before this, he had actually thought about vying for it himself.

Whether for the big picture or personal gain, he did have some desire to manage the entire Stronghold.

But in this situation, there could only be one person to be the Chief.

"Su Wan," Fang Shouzheng also raised his hand.

However, just as it was being passed unanimously...

Suddenly, a voice rang out.

"Fang Shouzheng."